Qatar’s manufacturing sector: Bridging the skills gap
Overview of manufacturing sector in Qatar
The manufacturing sector is expected to play a key role in Qatar’s National Vision 2030 programme and the diversification of its economy. The Qatar Manufacturing Strategy was launched to support the nation in meeting its manufacturing sector growth aspirations. It identifies key pillars for enabling growth including increasing FDI, encouraging entrepreneurship and SMEs in the sector, improving access to local finance, promoting international trade, encouraging and financially supporting innovation and developing local talent. However, growth in these sectors will be crucially supported by the localisation of key skills and occupations in Qatar.
The skills gap
Two of the nine strategic enablers identified in the Qatar Manufacturing Strategy are focused on developing Qatar’s local and international talent pools. Current skills gaps are not unique to the country’s manufacturing sector but have posed a challenge to economic diversification across the region. This skills mismatch can be attributed to several factors that have impeded the sector’s access to skilled labour to meet expected demand. While there may be an adequate supply of highly skilled individuals willing to work, skills gaps often arise when the skills of the available workforce do not match those needed for the roles that need to be filled.
Qatar Manufacturing Sector Skills Gap 2022-2030
This is frequently the result of “leakages” from local manufacturing talent pipelines through various mechanisms:
Closing the Gap
The economic gains of eliminating this potential gap feed through two channels. Firstly, the value added per worker increases if they have the appropriate skills to carry out the role, thereby increasing productivity. Secondly, having enough skilled workers to meet all the demand will allow for an increase in production, increasing the sector's gross value added and overall contribution to growth. Even if other pillars of the Manufacturing Strategy are successful, such as improving access to finance and promoting FDI, an actual increase in real production remains dependent on the availability of appropriate skills to fill emerging roles and facilitate sector development. Long-term efforts made now to fill these skilled roles will ultimately result in a higher level of expertise among Qatari nationals and support the development of the local talent ecosystem.
As Qatar continues its path of diversification and strives to achieve its Vision 2030 objectives, closing the skills gap should be a key priority for the manufacturing sector’s growth.
To support the development of appropriate skills and competencies vital to the growth of the manufacturing sector, key stakeholders need to work collaboratively to implement recommended initiatives.
Collaboration among key stakeholders will be required to realign labour force skills and ensure they are suitable for driving the growth of the manufacturing sector. The necessary interventions will require action from government ministries, the education sector and manufacturing businesses. These initiatives will fall under three distinct priority areas: talent planning, talent attraction and talent development.
To support future growth, we have prioritised five interventions to bridge the talent demand and supply gap in the manufacturing sector.
- 1. Academic Programs
- 2. Specialised Scholarships
- 3. Technical Training/ Internal Supply
- 4. Incentivise Nationals
- 5. Visa Policy-Revised Admission Systems
1. Academic Programs
Adjusting academic programmes to increase cohort size by 50-100% for targeted mid-expertise skills that are currently underserved by academic institutions, such as various engineering, pharmacy, biochemistry and food sciences disciplines, has the potential to increase supply even further.
2. Specialised Scholarships
The successful implementation of technical training initiatives is expected to add additional workers to the manufacturing labour supply. This means developing and subsidising technical programmes applicable to strategic sub-sectors with the aim of accelerating the employee career progression through skill development and retaining employees from non-strategic sectors.
3. Technical Training/ Internal Supply
Offering specialised scholarships and incentivising nationals to join the private sector are crucial for closing the skills gap at the highest levels of skills. Specialised scholarships should focus on advanced skills that are not, or are only minimally catered for by academic institutions, where the demand may not be sufficient to introduce a new discipline. Aquaculture, horticulture, agronomy, rapid prototyping and microbiology are examples of such skills.
4. Incentivise Nationals
Incentivising nationals, should focus on national talent at mid to advanced skills. Our analysis indicates that wage subsidies for national talent will close the wage differential between working in the public and private sectors; this should encourage those with the desired skills to enter the manufacturing sector workforce instead of joining the public sector.
5. Visa Policy-Revised Admission Systems
Based on our analysis, we estimate that if all initiatives are implemented successfully, the largest skills gains will be achieved by revising visa policies and realigning admissions systems. Specifically lowering restrictions for semi-skilled and unskilled expatriates from a predefined list of countries where the required skill sets are available.
If all five of these initiatives are implemented concurrently, the cumulative expected benefits are estimated to be sufficient to bridge the expected skills gap between 2022 and 2030.
Conclusion
The manufacturing sector in Qatar is a priority sector under the National Vision 2030 programme and a key contributor to the government's economic diversification agenda. Action is needed to ensure that the sector achieves its full growth potential. A large skills gap is expected as a result of skills leakage across the manufacturing sector and due to structural challenges, that include the misalignment of the education sector with the evolving economy. It is critical that these challenges are addressed through collaborative action among key stakeholders in order to ensure the growth of the manufacturing sector.
The initiatives proposed in this paper, if successfully implemented, will provide the required momentum to increase output and further develop targeted sub-sectors, thereby driving growth in the manufacturing sector. Additional economic gains will also be generated through increased value added per worker, contributing to the sector productivity. The earlier these actions are taken, the sooner the benefits will begin to filter through to the sector. increasing the overall economic growth, strengthening the non-oil economy and supporting strategic government objectives.
Contact us
Randa Bahsoun
Partner, Government & Public Sector Labour and Social Development Leader, PwC Middle East
Tel: +971 4 304 3487
